Wild harvested versus domesticated.

 Wild ginseng root is five to ten times more valuable than artificially propagated roots, and the reason is primarily cultural. The Chinese community, which is the largest consumer group of wild ginseng, believes that the similarity in appearance of gnarled wild roots to the human body symbolizes the vitality and potency of the root. Cultivated roots lack the characteristic shape of wild roots and are therefore not as highly coveted by consumers. In Botswana, traditional medicinal practitioners reported that cultivated material was unacceptable, as such plants lacked the potency compared to those plants collected from the wild.